Bridging Complexity and Ecology: An Outline of Health Ecology · 2018-03-14 · 1. Introduction:...

Bridging Complexity and Ecology: An Outline ofHealth Ecology

Vladimir Dimitrov

School of Social Ecology and Lifelong Learning,University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury Campus,Locked Bag 1797, South Penrith DC, NSW 1797, Australia

Theoretical discoveries and practical insights of complexity science lead toa new understanding of health as a vital characteristic of the all-embracingweb of life. The new concept of health ecology developed in this paperreveals delusions in the medical model of health currently used, and il-luminates a way to health by continuously strengthening the self-healingcapacity of nature and humans.

1. Introduction: Emergent dynamic ecologies

In 1982 Stephen Wolfram pointed out a new direction in human in-quiry: development of a general theory of complexity in nature [1, 2].When projected on the conceptual space of ecology, this direction re-veals a new unifying framework for ecological studies: the frameworkof emergent dynamic ecologies. This framework includes environmentalecology, human ecology, social ecology, deep ecology, ecology of mind,ecology of learning, and is widely open to embrace new ecological dis-coveries.

The term “ecology” is rooted in the Greek word oekos meaning“house.” In the same way as the house provides a shelter for peo-ple to live, the universe provides a “shelter” for the infinite manifoldof inanimate and animate forms to exist and evolve together. Thehouse—oekus—is a place where its inhabitants relate to one anotherand dynamically interact. Ecology studies different aspects of these in-terrelationships and interactions. In this sense, ecology is similar tocomplexity science, as the latter is also focused on studying dynamicinterrelationships and interactions.

While ecology explores the astonishing variety of the outward mani-festations of the dynamic interactions in nature and society, complexityscience tries to reveal their inner secrets. What propels them? Whatsustains their emergence? Where does their self-organizing ability comefrom and how does it manifest? Into what kind of patterns do the in-teracting entities self-organize? How do these patterns influence eachother? What are the factors that reinforce or impede the dynamic

Complex Systems, 13 (2001) 393–413; ! 2001 Complex Systems Publications, Inc.

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interplay of the self-organizing patterns? What makes them evolve,transform, or dissolve?

The unified framework of emergent dynamic ecologies serves as abridge between the two holistic branches of human inquiry: ecology andcomplexity, enabling ecological exploration of the existential dynamicsand the study of their self-organizing power. The unified framework notonly leads to mutual intellectual enrichment of ecology and complexity,it also gives birth to new exciting areas of research.

In this paper we outline the emergence of health ecology, a newholistic inquiry into human and environmental health, within the generalframework of emergent dynamic ecologies which include the following.

Environmental ecology deals with the dynamic interactions of all theexistential forms of nature (unfortunately, the number of these forms isdecreasing as a result of the ecological ignorance of those who have powerin today’s society).

Human ecology focuses on the interrelations of humans and their naturaland artificial (human-made) environments.

Social ecology considers human society as a bearer of infinite dynamicrelationships between individuals, groups, organizations, nations, states,cultures, machines, and so forth in their inseparable interconnectednesswith nature.

Deep ecology pursues the development of systemic conceptual frame-works to assist personal and social decisions that emerge from the spin-ning web of human interactions and affect the natural environment andlife [3].

Ecology of mind studies the process of human thinking as a continuousdynamic emergence of thoughts, feelings, and experiential phenomena outof the dynamic interactions of an infinity of inner and outer factors [4].

Ecology of learning explores the factors and conditions that facilitate theprocess of learning and searches how to increase its efficiency, in the senseof opening new possibilities for realization of the self-organizing impetusof the living entities, at any level of the web of their interrelationshipsand interactions [5, 6].

The theoretical discoveries and practical insights of complexity sci-ence are applicable to the study of each of the above ecologies, as wellas to the whole edifice of emergent dynamic ecologies.

At the focus of health ecology is the unique web of life- and health-supporting interactions at all levels of their self-organizing emergence:intrapersonal and interpersonal; between the individuals and the envi-ronment, as well as between the individuals and society; between societyand nature, as well as between society and the whole evolving universe.

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2. Medical model versus the model of health ecology

Existing medical practices are primarily concerned with how to fightwith diseases and diseases are considered “enemies” of people. Peoplemust be prevented from being invaded by these enemies. Once invaded,people become “patients” from which the diseases must be removed sothat they can be cured. “Cured” is the key term in the medical modelused in our days; there is not much discussion about “health” in thismodel.

The medical model absorbs most of the money spent on health, itsprestige is almost unchallenged, especially in developed nations, but con-temporary thinkers about health are increasingly aware that this modelis limited, inadequate, and often dangerous. Medical interventions arebecoming ever more complex and costly, causing unwanted side effectsthat produce litigation, which raises the cost of the treatment and re-duces its availability in a vicious circle.

Many people today look for alternative approaches based on holisticmethods of healing rooted in the wisdom of the ancients. “Heal” comesfrom the same root as “whole” and “holistic:” restoring wholeness,restoring health, which has nothing to do with fighting with or removingdisease.

In the medical model, practitioners cure patients of diseases. In thehealing model, a range of agents can heal the patient, who is alwaysa dynamic part of the process. This crucial part of the process can beunderstood as self-healing.

The model of health ecology is centered at one of the main concep-tual roots of complexity science: self-organization. When projected onhealth, self-organization refers to self-healing, that is, the self-sustainingor self-restoring ability of nature, which has been passed to all livingcreatures.

We can either strengthen and realize our natural self-healing poten-tial, or weaken and destroy it, depending on our culture. Death in thehealth ecology model is an inevitable manifestation of transitoriness ofthe physical bodies of the living forms. The occurrence of the momentof death in humans is often accelerated by various traumas, includingdiseases that emerge as a result of living consciously or unconsciouslyunder conditions that are destructive to health and impede the ways ofrealizing our self-healing potential.

These conditions are deeply rooted in the culture of our society, whichinvolves also the predominant attitudes and dispositions of people. Un-fortunately, many of the dominant cultural patterns in the world todayvalue competition and the accumulation of profit and power. Such“cultural” behaviors increase the chance of severe ecological disastersin nature. This intensifies stress at the individual and social scales, in-


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ducing feelings of hostility and worthlessness in life, and therefore actagainst our health.

The start of the new millennium (with horrible acts of terrorism andwar in response to those acts) is marked by a contemporary culture thatstrongly opposes harmony in nature and thus endangers both humanand environmental health, as they are two sides of one and the samecoin.

3. Human and environmental health: The approach ofhealth ecology

Complexity theory contains a repertoire of models which can be usedto explore different aspects of the turbulent space of human existence inwhich health and “unhealth” interact with each other, and with otheraspects of human experience and the natural world.

3.1 Integrated ecological space

In order to capture a sense of the interrelatedness of life the concept ofintegrated ecological space (IES) [7] has been proposed. It is a spaceof complexly interwoven relationships between living beings and theirenvironment. In terms of this concept, every living entity represents anetwork of mutually connected agents, or interdependent constituents,which constantly interact with one another and with the environmentto ensure that entities survive and evolve. The networks of living en-tities are not separated, but build an all-embracing dynamic web ofrelationships that covers the whole existential space.

The drive to restore and maintain conditions of wholeness and in-tegrity in IES can be seen as a fundamental emergent property of thewhole dynamic web, a property that underlies the holistic concept ofhealth ecology in the complexity-based unifying framework of emergentdynamic ecologies.

Through the prism of complexity science, the potential for self-healing is seen as an inherent self-organizing urge of each living entitytowards states of integrity and harmony, both at an internal level (re-lated to the functioning of the constituents of this entity) and at externallevels (related to the functioning of the whole dynamic web in IES).

In the model of health ecology, disease is not a self-contained, isolatedpathological event with a set of causes acting in a linear way. A predis-position to disease occurs when integrity breaks, either at the level of anentity or at the level of the whole web of relationships in IES. The brokenintegrity may create obstacles that impede the self-healing ability of liv-ing entities. In human beings, these obstacles can be rooted in differentaspects of culture: physiological, ecological, social, and psychological(mental, emotions-based, or/and spiritual).



3.2 Sustaining the self-healing potential

Sole and Goodwin, biologists from the Santa Fe Institute of Complexity,use the concept of “dynamic attractor” to understand the surprising andparadoxical phenomenon of self-healing [8]: “health is the typical ornatural condition of an organism; it is the dynamic attractor to whichthe self-healing organism tends to return spontaneously.”

The integrity of the whole web of interrelationships is responsiblefor sustaining the dynamic attractor of health. At the same time, theself-healing dynamics supported by this attractor play a crucial role insustaining the integrity of the whole dynamic web of interrelationshipsin IES.

Because of this vital interdependence, anything in IES that destroysthe web of relationships, anything that divides, separates, or excludes,appears as an obstacle for realization of the self-healing potential of theliving entities.

3.3 Vortices of health

The realization of the self-healing potential of each living entity dependson the interplay of many factors in IES. Some of these factors emergeout of the dynamic web of relationships between the entities, the rest ofthem appear as a result of the interaction between the entities and theirenvironment. In order to capture the wholeness of the dynamic interplayof interrelationships under conditions of high energy, it is illuminatingto model it as characteristically taking a vortical form, similar to thatof a whirlpool or tornado, able to produce powerful self-organizingforces.

Our hypothesis is that these vortical forms of interactions betweenthe multitude of factors in IES may be responsible both for sustainingthe self-healing potential of each entity and for activating it into a pow-erful urge towards integrity and harmonious dynamic relations with theenvironment, and therefore towards better health. We refer to thesevortical forms as vortices of health.

While living at the vortex of health, an entity feels empowered torealize its self-healing potential. Living outside the vortex, its self-healing ability may diminish and disappear; various diseases may emergeor take a more severe form, and death comes closer. Conceivably, humanbeings can learn how to energize the vortices of health and thus facilitateand support the self-healing forces which emerge out of them. Theseforces keep the dynamics in IES at the attractor of health, a metaphor forthe “healthy area” in IES. The key role for health ecology is to explainhow people can “fire” the vortices of health and thus sustain their livesand the life of nature at the attractor of health.


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3.4 Bifurcations in integrated ecological space

In chaos theory the occurrence of bifurcations marks transition fromorder to chaos in the dynamic model of the population growth in bi-ology. In the model of health ecology, “bifurcations” can be used todescribe the transition from health to unhealth occurring within IES atindividual, social, or/and environmental levels.

One can consider the emergence of the ozone hole, the green houseeffect, disappearance of certain kinds of species, soil degradation, andso forth as manifestations of bifurcations occurring in the dynamics ofnature. The collapsing health of a drug (or alcohol, or nicotine) addictreveals the emergence of bifurcations in the form of qualitative changesin individual dynamics that may be irreversible. An irreversible changeis signaled by a chronic disorder that is likely to be accompanied by adecrease in the self-healing potential of the individual.

At minor scales, breaks and restorations in IES occur continuously.Their interplay leads to “the edge of chaos,” a concept used in com-plexity science to explain dynamic behavior at the intermediate levelbetween order and chaos. When applied to health ecology, the edge ofchaos refers to a region in IES where the living entities need to balancethemselves so as not to drift into too much disorder on the one hand,and too much order on the other hand. Such balancing requires a highlevel of self-organizing ability of the living entities, that is, ability forco-adaptation and co-evolution [9].

As far as the self-organizing ability of the species, which reachesits highest level at the edge-of-chaos regions in IES, manifests throughtheir self-healing potential, and the latter is maximized when the speciesdwell at the vortex of health, we can conclude that the vortices of healthexist at the edge of chaos. Both the orderly and disorderly patternsof individual dynamics are equally dangerous for health; the formerleads to repetitive behavioral patterns, stereotypes, and addiction; thelatter leads to disharmony and break one’s connectedness with the en-vironment. It is the edge of chaos that facilitates the emergence andsustenance of the vortices of health.

3.5 Double harmonious resonance

The medical model is linear: X causes or contributes to disease D, Yalleviates or cures it. The experience of being or becoming well or illoften shows a more complex pattern of causality, requiring other waysof representation. One of these that comes from theories of complexityis the idea of harmonious resonance [10]. If being healthy means to be ina state of integrity and harmony, a living entity may be in such a state ifit functions in harmonious resonance within its own (internal) networkof agents and with the larger (external) whole of the environment. And



it is within the areas at the edge of chaos in the IES where this two-foldharmony manifests through the vortices of health.

If the agents (organs, cells, and systems) of a living organism resonateharmoniously with each other as an inseparable whole and with theirenvironment, the organism is more likely to be healthy. When harmonyand integrity are destroyed and agents within the organism “speak”separately to each other and to the environment, then a kind of diseaseor illness is under way.

If the influences between the internal agents of the individual organ-ism, and those between the latter and its environment are reciprocal,as is assumed in holistic models of health, then resonance needs to beunderstood accordingly as a kind of double harmonious resonance, thatis, a resonance that is both internal and external.

Is this kind of resonance possible? Yes, it is, as it occurs in IES, wherethe species and their environment are considered inseparably connected.So, harmony in functions of the internal organs of a living entity reflectthe harmony of its relationship with the environment, and vice versa:the harmonious relationship of the living entity with its environmentis an outward projection of its inner harmony. In the case of humanbeings, the notion of inner harmony has a much richer meaning thansimply a harmonious functioning of the organs and systems of the body.

When an entity functions under conditions of double harmoniousresonance, it dwells at the vortex of health.

3.6 The great delusion

The vortex of health of an individual can be imagined as an energypattern emerging out of the individual’s dynamics; it cannot be borrowedfrom other individuals or implanted from outside of one’s inner nature.No doctor in the world, no matter how competent, can make it whirl;the individual alone is responsible for the functioning of their vortex ofhealth. In order to understand this functioning and to support it wisely,we need the help of our consciousness, of our experience, and of ourinner impetus to live and know.

Through studying how to concentrate and relax the mind and thebody, through practicing techniques that help us acquire inner peaceand harmony, the flow of energy coming from the natural environmentcan be consciously directed inward and used to activate the vortices ofhealth. Otherwise, our self-healing capacity remains in a dormant stateand we need to rely upon help from outside when feeling sick. By doingthis, we substitute the holistic effect of the realization of our self-healingpotential with short-term partial effects produced by the use of variouschemical medicines.

Many people in the world die as victims of the great delusion of ourdays that help for our health comes from outside! The society continues


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to amplify this delusion because strong economic forces are behind it.The global pharmaceutical corporations make unbelievable amounts ofmoney on this delusion. A great number of medical practitioners keepthis delusion powerful.

The efficiency of our self-healing capacity goes down, and we lookfor the use of medicines to help us while the following also happens.

The air is full of carbon dioxides produced by our cars and the industrialcomplexes spread all over the world.

Dangerous chemical wastes, including nuclear, continue to be released inmonstrous amounts.

The soil and the water are irreversibly contaminated.

The process of deforestation and extinguishing natural species goes onwith an ever-increasing tempo.

The ozone holes make sunshine spread cancer in our bodies instead ofhealing them.

The rains are acid and the fruits and vegetables eaten are full of chemicals(or “genetically engineered”) to look commercially attractive, but aredetrimental for our health.

So we are entrained in a kind of health-damaging vicious circle: wecontinue to pollute nature with one kind of chemical and at the sametime fight the effects of this pollution on us by using another kind ofchemical. The more we pollute nature with the first (technological) kindof chemicals and thus gradually convert it into a source of new emergentillnesses, the more we use the second (medical) kind of chemicals tofight the illnesses and thus become gradually addicted. In both cases,the result is one and the same: serious destruction of our health.

Is there any way to get out of this vicious circle? Health ecology canreveal such a way: Only if we take care about the natural environmentand help it restore its own self-healing capacity. This will facilitate theincrease of our self-healing potential (as we are “children” of natureand our health totally relies upon its support) and help ourselves reduceour dependence on medicines.

3.7 Holistic nature of self-healing

One essential aspect of the multifaceted mission of health ecology isto show the danger of only relying on the help of medicines, whileneglecting the vital factor for our health, that is, our potential for self-healing. Nature has endowed us with this potential at the moment whenwe emerged from the womb, and it is a grievous failure not to developand use it to the full. Nature is the main supporter of the self-healingpotential. It is a generous and free supply of energy, the sun and air,



water and soil, flora and fauna, harmony and beauty all help the vorticesof human health move and generate their healing forces.

Self-healing is a holistic phenomenon, an expression of the self-organizing ability of the individual as a whole, and there is only oneway to stimulate it: through holistic means. Such are the means ofnature! Thousands of years ago this was fully understood by the cre-ators of Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of health (“ayur” meanslife and “veda” means knowledge in Sanskrit), according to which nosingle agent by itself can bring health [11].

The earlier in life we understand the wisdom of the ancients about thevital role of nature in the conscious developing and strengthening of ourself-healing capacity (which is in abundance when the organism is youngand full of vigor), the more efficient the realization of this capacity.

So, another aspect of the mission of health ecology relates to thehealth education of young people. This kind of education is a keyfactor in promoting health.

4. The vital role of nature

Nature embraces the whirling complexity of dynamics (forces, energies,substances, forms, and processes) that create, sustain, change, or destroyall animate and inanimate forms. These dynamics support the self-organizing potential of nature.

“Everything in nature tends towards fulfillment of its potential”wrote Aristotle, who called this property of nature “entelechy” (fromGreek en telecheia, meaning “be in fulfillment” or “completion”). Ex-amples of entelechy are the capacity of a seed to unfold its potential togrow when appropriate conditions arise, and the capacity of an organ-ism to heal itself. These processes are inexplicable in terms of mechanis-tic causality, but it is evident that they happen all the time in biologicallife, including human existence.

Through its urge to move and self-realize, nature represents an all-embracing wholeness where no thing and no being exists in itself or foritself but only in dynamic relationship with other things and beings. Thisis a basic premise of the science of complexity (and hence of any emer-gent dynamic ecology), which directly relates to the integrity of existenceconsidered as a complex of dynamics, whose creative, sustaining, or de-structive powers are constantly demonstrated in nature. It is throughthese dynamics that everything that exists, emerges, moves, changes, andtransforms from an elementary particle to a gigantic galaxy, becomesconnected in an inseparable web of mutually dependent, intricately in-terwoven and co-evolving relationships. It is at the same time somethingthat can only be grasped and thought about with an appropriate kindof fuzziness: fuzziology, the study of fuzziness embedded in humanknowing, reveals the secrets of understanding the meaning of complex


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holistic concepts like health, harmony, rhythm, self-organization, andnature [12, 13].

4.1 Rhythm and self-organization in nature

The rhythm of nature beats through us. The closer our connection withthe natural environment and the more aware we are about its forces andlife-supporting energies, the clearer is our perception of its rhythm.

From the digesting activity of our intestines to the firing of the neuronsin the brain, every single function of the organs and cells in our bodiesreflects the beat which mirrors the rhythm of nature. The state of ourhealth: physical, emotional, and mental is entirely dependent on thisrhythm. When the rhythm stops beating through the vital trinity ofeach individual’s nature: body, mind, and soul, the individual dies.

The health of the natural environment, with all its variety of animateand inanimate entities is entirely rhythm-dependent. The rhythm ofnature maps into its fractal geometry, discovered by Benoit Mandelbrot[14] and its self-organized criticality, first described by Per Bak in [15];both fractals and criticality can be characterized by power law distribu-tions. In this sense, the power laws describe mathematically the rhythmof “how nature works.”

The rhythm of the natural environment mirrors the rhythm of Gaya,our living planet [16]; the rhythm of Gaya mirrors the rhythm of thegalaxy, and the rhythm of the galaxy mirrors the rhythm of the wholeuniverse, because Gaya and the galaxy and the universe are only dif-ferent scales, or fractal levels, of one and the same dynamic existentialwholeness.

Rhythm is an inherent characteristic of the self-organizing dynam-ics of nature. The way nature self-organizes, unfolds, and evolves isthrough rhythmic patterns. The vortices of health discussed in section 3reflect these rhythmic patterns.

The self-organizing capacity of nature’s dynamics is sustained throughthe constant interactions of the astonishing variety of the living creaturesand their environment. What is crucial to be underlined is that everysingle entity existing in nature, be this entity animate or inanimate, isequally important for the realization of the dynamic interactions of theliving creatures and their environment, and therefore for the support ofthe self-organizing urge of nature and its all-pervading rhythm.

Every single entity in nature is endowed with equal right to exist, in-teract, and evolve, and thus to contribute in its overall self-organizationand rhythm. And vice versa, the self-organizing urge of nature andits rhythm manifest through the motion, interaction, and evolutionarypotential of every existing entity, without assigning ranks of prioritiesamong them; they all are equally open for this urge to make them move,interact, and evolve in synchrony.



4.2 Rhythm and health

Although we are able to reflect the rhythm of nature, we are also ableto act against it. This happens when we do not focus our awareness onthe natural rhythm, as if it does not deserve any consciously directedattention and “works” only automatically until it destroys because ofa disease or death. It also happens when we are aware of the rhythm,and yet do not care about providing conditions to support its constant“work” through the body-mind-soul integrity of our human nature.

In the first case, we usually become aware of the rhythm when itis destroyed, often irreversibly. For example, a sudden heart attackcan loudly announce that the rhythm has been disturbed. Usually, wehurry to “fix” it by using medical drugs. As far as the rhythm is aholistic characteristic of our natural self-organizing ability rooted in thebody-mind-soul integrity, it can hardly be fixed by an artificially madechemical drug. Any drug acts in isolation and directs its effect upon acertain organ or function only; but the rhythm is essentially holistic, itcannot be restored by a partial intervention.

In the second case, the physical body simply follows what the mindpushes it to do. As far as our minds are preoccupied with much more“important” thoughts than listening to the natural rhythm, such asthoughts of how to earn more money, to exercise more power, to pursueachievements and higher social status, and to indulge in all kinds ofpleasures, we are usually able to notice that the rhythm goes wrongwhen it is too late to restore it.

4.3 Rhythm in society against nature’s health

When looking back in history, we see that nations and states followperiods of development and downfalls. Both the periods of economicgrowth and the periods of crises are inherent in the capitalist system.These periods have little to do with the rhythm of nature. Their un-derlying causes remain in the fundamental contradictions on which anyprocess of exercising political or/and economic power in human societyis based. “The crises are never more than momentary, violent solutionsfor the existing contradictions, violent eruptions that re-establish thedisturbed balance for the time being” [17].

Chaos theory or stochastic analysis might help the experts buildchaotic attractors or long- and short-term economic cycles, which canmathematically map the chaotic or stochastic dynamics of a selected setof economic and social indicators, but their “rhythm” is entirely differ-ent from the rhythm of nature. For example, the frantic ups and downsof today’s market economy are reflections of the pressure of the largestfinancial corporations and their aggressive striving to establish globaleconomic power.


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According to Hardt and Negri, the establishment of global economicpower means the emergence of a global empire: “a decentered anddeterritorializing apparatus of rule that progressively incorporates theentire global realm within its open, expanding frontiers” [18]. Therhythm of the social dynamics in the empire becomes nothing but a“pure exercise of command, without any proportionate or adequatereference to the world of life.”

While the world of life must reflect the rhythm of nature and theuniverse in order to exist and reproduce, the global order in the em-pire recognizes only one kind of rhythm: the rhythm of the financialtransactions directed to increase the wealth of the economic giants.

The distribution of power in society has become so drastically un-equal and the gap between the powerful corporate minority and themajority of people existing in hard-to-bear economic conditions hasbecome so big that the humans belonging to these two polar parts ofsociety started to resemble two different kinds of species.

The high power differential in society impedes the self-organizingcapacity of human society. The latter can manifest only if the socialinteractions are between individuals, each with an equally open spaceof opportunities for self-realization. In the global empire, this is impos-sible.

The rhythm of social self-organization can be sustained only in soci-eties where the power differential tends to zero.

This proposition relates to the social dimensions of health ecologyand is analogous to the proposition about the rhythm of nature: therhythm of any process of self-organization of the all-embracing web ofinterrelated and dynamically interacting agents in nature and in societyrequires both recognition and realization of their equity. When thehuman species strives to dominate in nature, and the richest strive todominate in society, the rhythm of natural and social self-organizationbecomes distorted. Then ecological and social disasters emerge withnegative effects on human health, on the health of the society, and onthe health of the whole planet.

5. Culture as a key factor in health ecology

Culture in general use refers to patterns of behavior peculiar to humans,not to bacteria, but in its deeper sense it can still refer to both. Cultureis the set of attitudes and behaviors expressed in the normal functioningof a society, human or other. These patterns create the harmonious setof self-organized forms we admire in nature, where plants and animalsfollow their natural drives to create the intricate and functional systemsof nature.

The culture we humans have developed seems to be a second natureopposed to nature itself, responsible for the continuous worsening of



the ecological conditions on the planet today. Our scientific and tech-nological inventions create serious ecological problems impeding theprocess of self-organization in nature. And as far as we are a productof this process and vitally depend on it for our survival as a species, theobstacles rooted in our culture at the same time obstruct the unfoldingof our lives and our potential.

5.1 Will to power

Like all other animals, we use resources of nature to sustain our physicalexistence, but these resources are incomparably less than the resourcesutilized for establishing power over nature and in society. An ego-centered human mind is obsessed with the idea of exercising powereverywhere. The highest realizations of the human intellect were andcontinue to be directed towards accumulation and realization of mili-tary, economic, and political power in society: creating advanced toolsto kill each other, to exploit each other, to make those with less powerfollow the will of the strongest, and if they resist, to teach them lessons,seek revenge, and eventually extinguish them.

How can health, as an expression of harmony and integrity of nature,be sustained within a culture that wills to power? In the developed cap-italist world, the will to power is often masked by charismatic politicalspeeches about democracy, freedom, and equal rights for everybody. Atthe same time a vast propaganda machine keeps the consumption drivein society at its highest possible level and thus reinforces the establish-ment of a hard-to-oppose global economic order.

5.2 Fatal cultural attractors

Besides the obsession with power and its destructive social and ecolog-ical consequences, health ecology points to other serious obstacles inour culture that impede the fulfillment of human potential. The hardestobstacles to remove relate to addiction, to all kinds of unhealthy habits,prejudices and dogmas, as well as to activities centered mainly in indi-vidual selfishness (like avarice, greed, craving for luxury, self-praising,gluttony, envy, jealousy, lust, hatred, evil-doings to others, and revenge).While showing a tendency to self-propel and grow in magnitude, theseobstacles absorb enormous amounts of our physical, mental, and emo-tional energy. Day after day our self-organizing capacity is wasted in“cultural” attractors, which have very little to do with the growth ofour intelligence, with the urge to understand the secrets of our innernature, expand our consciousness, and open our spiritual potential.

To open your spiritual potential means to remove the obstacleson its path. If you remove hate, love starts flowing. You arenot to create love, nobody can create love. If you were to createlove then it would be impossible. Love is already in you; you just


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remove the hate with the power of your heart and you will see lovestreaming. Remove the unconsciousness with the power of yourawareness, and you will see your capacity to know arising in you.Remove the negative with the power of your mindfulness and thepositive starts unfolding itself. It is almost as if a rock is blockinga tiny little stream of pure water; you remove the rock and thestream starts moving. When the rock is blocking its path, it maynot ever be possible for the stream to come. We are carrying manyrocks within our culture, call them blocks in your energy, and thoseblocks have to be dissolved and removed, if you want to let the tinylittle stream of your spiritual endeavor come. Then nourish andcare for it with all your love and all your knowing until it becomesa mighty river hurrying to unite with the ocean. . .

So speaks the spiritual master to those disciples who are thirsty to know.

5.3 Message from ancient times

The ancient wisdom provides powerful hints for dealing with enigmasand paradoxes of human existence. “There was a time when, in a smallstrip of the world’s land surface, man achieved an almost total equilib-rium with his environment and created a society as near perfect as hehas so far been able even to dream about. . . ” [19]. Great philosophersof ancient Greece like Pythagoras, Plato, Hippocrates, Thales of Milet,Galen, and Homer visited Egypt in search of wisdom.

The life and work of Pythagoras, perhaps the most famous ancientphilosopher of all, who spent more than 20 years in the sanctuaries ofEgypt, provides an important clue if we wish to get insight from theEgyptian wisdom. Pythagoras established a doctrine of unity, whichencompassed the physical and the spiritual. He shows us a holisticphilosophy which is an essentially Egyptian perspective.

The variety, complexity, and multiplicity which we see never impliedseparation; unity was ever present. Life in the heavens and life on earthwere considered to be one, an indivisible unity. Human beings consid-ered themselves indistinguishable from their environment, products ofthe same forces of nature responsible for creation of the heavens andthe earth. To learn and acquire knowledge was to observe these forcesat work. In the great Egyptian temples all branches of learning werehoused under the same roof, regarded as aspects of the single wisdom.All diverse branches were encapsulated within this sacred wisdom. It isin it where people looked for insights to deal with enigmas and para-doxes of their lives. The essential preoccupation of the Egyptian thoughtwas to know the origin and matter of existence.

In our fragmented world, knowledge has also become fragmented.Our society has become insulated from nature. When discussing sus-tainability, we speak about environment as something separated fromus, something “over there” with which we need to establish a friendly



relationship. We say that the cars pollute the air outside of us, forget-ting that it is the same air inside of us without which we simply cannotsurvive. We speak about waters somewhere there around us, totallyneglecting the fact that water is an essential ingredient of our cells.

So far from us is the idea of unity, a central idea of all ancient wisdom,that even such a simple and transparent truth that the same forces whichwork at the universe work in us seems strange for us. Can we use thistruth to make money out of it? No? Then forget it! Think aboutsomething more serious, for instance, think about sustainability: howto continue exploiting the environment, and at the same time live healthyand happily? Or how to continue current predatory processes led by usin nature and society and at the same time to preach about governmentaland citizen-based mechanisms designed to ensure greater accountabilityof business and industry? Before organizing citizen-based mechanismswe must have those citizens. Does somebody teach us how to be acitizen? Without understanding the concept of unity and living withit, we cannot be citizens. Do we have governments which are honeststewards of the public interest related to contemporary environmentalissues? One of the pathologies of our fragmented social reality is thatin their efforts to hold on to power, politicians and political parties relyon crucial financial support from wealthy corporations which are notenvironment-friendly when making money.

We can talk a lot about precautionary principles, preventive ap-proaches, extended producer responsibilities, clean production, corpo-rate accountability, national public hearings, community participation,and many other issues related to sustainability, but the effect of all thesetalks will be insignificant unless we are able to grasp the idea of unityand work with it in our every day life. The society needs educationin this regard, at schools and universities, in local communities, andglobal corporations. The simple message from the ancient wisdom isthe message that unity can save us from self-destruction. Or at leastmake it not so painful.

One of the endeavors of health ecology is to spread the message ofunity; there is no health out of the IES, in which the humans and natureare linked forever.

6. In search of universal principles of harmony in nature and society

In a search for justice it seems clear that existing levels of inequalityare unhealthy, yet nor is it the case that equality is possible or evendesirable. Something else is needed which is not as precise and definiteas equality, but nonetheless meets the human craving for balance; a keyconcept here is harmony [20]. This was a key concept for the Greeks, aconjunction of three strands of meaning. Its root meaning was aro, join,so “harmonia” was what joined. Another meaning was proportion, the


408 V. Dimitrov

balance of things that allowed an easy fit. The quality of joining andproportion then came to be seen in music and other arts.

The precondition for harmony for the Greeks was expressed in thephrase “nothing too much.” It also had a mysterious positive quality,which became the object of inquiry for their finest minds. Thinkers suchas Pythagoras sought to capture the mystery of harmony as somethingboth inexpressible yet also illuminated by mathematics. The mathe-matics of harmony explored by the ancient Greeks is still an inspiringmodel for contemporary scientists. Crucial to it is their discovery ofits quantitative expression in astonishing diversity and complexity ofnature through the golden mean (golden ratio), " (phi):

" #1 $!

52

,

which is approximately equal to 1.618. It is described by Euclid in bookfive of his Elements: “A straight line is said to have been cut in extremeand mean ratio when, as the whole line is to the greater, so is the greaterto the less.” Any quantity Q can be divided into the golden ratio, if itsgreater part Qg is chosen in such a way that it relates to the smaller partQs exactly in the same proportion as the whole quantity Q relates to itsgreater part Qg, that is,

Qg

Qs#

QQg# ".

As later scientists have discovered, " pervades both animate andinanimate forms in nature, from galactic spirals to chromosome threads.Leonardo da Vinci characterized " as a “divine proportion” and usedits aesthetic appeal in his consummate masterpieces. While naturalforms undergo permanent changes, " is preserved in their topology. Forexample, the unfolding of the galactic spiral preserves " in its geometry,the growth of the human body preserves the golden ratio in placing theorgans, the dynamics of the arrangements of leaves, seeds, and petalsalso follow ".

6.1 Harmony and energy

The golden mean " as an image of harmony can be applied as a ratio,which is itself mathematically precise, although it may not be clearwhat precise quantities are involved or how those quantities could bedetermined in practice. In this form it will express in a precise and clearform an idea of harmony which is in other respects indeterminate, toproduce insights which are clarifying and enabling and can be translatedinto practice. We will illustrate this with reference to the theme of energy.

Our planet is like a huge collector, producer, and reservoir of energy.Partly this energy comes from outside the planet, from the sun and other



cosmic sources, and partly from sources of energy accumulated in thedepths of the Earth and on its surface. The so-called “energy crisis”is bound up with the many other crises facing the planet, seeminglypresenting insuperable obstacles on the path to health for individuals,nations, and the planet. It is another situation where we can look to thewisdom of " as an image of harmony.

Let E denote the whole amount of energy available to our planetat an arbitrary moment t. The planet needs this energy not only forsupporting the natural drift (co-evolving) of all living forms of itsbiosphere, but for supporting also an enormously complex physico-chemical “metabolism.” Because of this gigantic metabolism, JamesLovelock referred to Earth as a living entity called Gaia, the ancientGreeks’ name for the goddess of Earth [16].

Part of E is used by animate and inanimate nature to maintain theprocesses of emergence, sustenance, evolution, and destruction of theliving forms on Earth. Let us denote this energy by E(n), where n standsfor nature.

Being an inseparable part of nature, we, the human species, also usethis energy, which is essential for our survival. It is this energy thatsupports the dynamic attractors and vortices of health discussed in theprevious sections. Much more intensively, however, we use energy forpurposes which have nothing to do with our health. On the contrary,some of those purposes are directly opposed to the sustenance of life. Forexample, an incredibly huge amount of energy goes to support military-industrial complexes on the planet. This includes high energy con-sumption in the production of more and more sophisticated weapons,rockets, planes, and bombs, more and more sophisticated military tech-nologies to demonstrate power and exert control. Huge amounts ofenergy support satellite espionage activities and cosmic experiments ofthe industrially developed countries. Ever increasing supplies of en-ergy go to produce ecologically disastrous chemicals, to support hugeair-conditioning areas, and to satisfy continuously growing desires forluxury and comfort, to amass wealth and fame.

Let E(h) denote the flow of energy used by humans for purposes likethe purposes indicated above, where h stands for human, although itwould be more appropriate to use ah (standing for antihuman) for thiskind of monstrous energy expenditure.

As human existence strongly depends on the energy flow supportinglife on the planet, E(n) must be greater than E(h), otherwise the biologi-cal survival and the sustenance of health of all species, including people,would not be possible. We assume that the energy flows responsiblefor the dynamics of Earth, as an inseparable living entity in the solarsystem, naturally tend to self-organize in such a way as to preserve the


410 V. Dimitrov

golden mean in their relations to each other, which implies

EE(n)

#E(n)E(h)

# ".

Consequently, E(n) is equal to E divided by ", and E(h) is equal to Edivided by "2. With 1.62 as an approximate value for ", the followingexpressions are valid:

E(n) # 0.62EE(h) # 0.38E.

The principle of harmony in human drift (co-evolving) with naturerequires that for human existence to be in harmony with nature, theenergy E(h) used by human society is less than 40% of the whole amountof energy E available for supporting the gigantic metabolism of ourplanet as an inseparable entity in the solar system.

The larger part of E, that is, more than 60%, is needed for supportinglife on Earth.

Natural drift of species, including humans, is under a threat of de-struction every time the energy available to nature E(n) falls below thecritical value of 60% of E, or equivalently, when the energy used byhuman society becomes greater than 40% of E.

The principle of harmony directly relates to health ecology.

6.2 The way of health

Harmony is a fuzzy concept and has mathematical and nonmathemati-cal dimensions. There is enough evidence in life today that the harmonyof people’s co-existence with nature has been destroyed. Mass extinc-tions of species, deforestation, degradation of soil, expansion of theozone-hole, rapidly increasing pollution of air and water on the planet,global warming, frequent occurrence of large scale natural disasters,and emergence of new severe diseases caused by environmental prob-lems are but a few manifestations of an ever growing disharmony innature–human co-existence.

In pursuit of technological advancements our society does not careabout the energy supply of other than human living forms. WhetherE(h)is higher or lower than 40% of E, who cares? Everybody knows thereare no “objective” ways for measuring E, and therefore no scientificmethod can be used to raise the alarm when E(h) reaches a criticalvalue. Moreover, many people continue to think that our planet hasan unlimited supply of energy, that the use of solar energy and energycontained in the atoms’ nuclei will provide people with never endingenergy flow. Unfortunately, the energy capable of supporting the naturalmetabolism of our planet is limited.



The human drive for technological development cannot be stopped,so E(h) will permanently increase, and therefore, humanity will movefurther and further away from what the principle of harmony requires.If this is the case, why do we bother to speak about harmonious co-existence, divine proportions, and health ecology? Is it not better tolearn how to adapt to the ever-deeper disharmony of human life?

Unfortunately, living forms cannot adapt to ecological catastrophesand disasters. If disasters occur, species die. And in our days, ecologi-cal disasters clearly demonstrate a tendency to increase in number andmagnitude.

We know that we are inseparably connected with nature. We are itsproducts. We know that when we destroy nature, we destroy ourselves,our health, and survival at the same moment. When we pollute its airand water, its plants and animals, we pollute the air, the water andthe food sustaining the integrity of our physical, emotional, and mentallives. Nature is not over there, while we are staying here. It is in us asmuch as we are in it.

To preserve nature means to preserve all its forms of life includingour human form. And vice versa, to preserve our human form means topreserve nature. This is the way of co-drifting with nature in accordancewith the principle of harmony. This is the way of life, the way ofharmony, the way of health. All other ways breathe diseases and death.We cannot divide among us and nature the air, water, sunshine, and soforth in the “divine proportion.” But we can share these precious naturalgifts with each other and with the other species. We all are Nature.What matters are the acts of sharing, sharing with other people notonly material goods, knowledge, skill, experience, but also humanness:goodwill, warmth, respect, and love.

The wisdom of the ancient Vedas reminds us that everything that wetry to hold on to, be it air or food, possession or knowledge, turns intopoison not only for our physical health, but also for the health of ourmind and soul, for the health of nature.

Every act of sharing with others is an acknowledgment of our inter-dependence and inseparability, from each other and from nature. Everyact of sharing has a strong spiritual connotation. The more we share,the more united we feel with each other and with the spiritual essence ofthe universe. When the acts of sharing are in accordance with the prin-ciple of harmony, they have an immense transformative power. Theychange us from ego-centered to eco-centered, from ill to healthy, fromdestroyers to co-creators of the whole evolving ecological universe.

To help in the realization of this transformation is the main missionof health ecology.


412 V. Dimitrov

Acknowledgments

The author acknowledges participation of Prof. Bob Hodge in the prepa-ration of the present version of this paper, and particularly in the workon the second section.

References

[1] S. Wolfram, “Cellular Automata as Simple Self-Organising Systems,”available at:http://www.stephenwolfram.com/publications/articles/ca/82-cellular.

[2] S. Wolfram, A New Kind of Science (Wolfram Media, Champaign, 2002).

[3] A. Næss and D. Rothenberg, Ecology, Community and Lifestyle: Outlineof an Ecosophy (Cambridge University Press, 1990).

[4] G. Bateson and M. Bateson, Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Collected Essaysin Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution, and Epistemology (University ofChicago Press, Chicago, 2000).

[5] S. Hill, et al., “Learning Ecology and Transformative Change in Educa-tion,” in Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Trans-formative Learning, Toronto, Canada, November 2001.

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[7] V. Dimitrov, “Complexity of Life,” available at:http://www.uws.edu.au/vip/dimitrov/complexity1.htm.

[8] R. Sole and B. Goodwin, Signs of Life (Basic Books, 2000).

[9] S. Kauffman, Origins of Order: Self-organization and Selection in Evolu-tion (Oxford University Press, New York, 1993).

[10] V. Dimitrov, “Swarm-like Dynamics and their Use in Organization andManagement,” Complex Systems, 12(4) (2000) 413–421.

[11] F. John, An Elementary Textbook of Ayurveda: Medicine With a SixThousand Year Old Tradition (Psychosocial Press, 2001).

[12] V. Dimitrov, “Introduction to Fuzziology,” in Fuzzy Logic: A Frameworkfor the New Millennium, edited by V. Dimitrov and V. Korotkich (PhysicaVerlag, Heidelberg and New York, 2002).

[13] V. Dimitrov and B. Hodge, Social Fuzziology (Physica Verlag, Heidelbergand New York, 2002).

[14] B. Mandelbrot, The Fractal Geometry of Nature (Freeman Company, SanFrancisco, 1982).



[15] P. Bak, How Nature Works (Copernicus, New York, 1996).

[16] J. Lovelock, The Ages of Gaia: A Biography of Our Living Earth (W. W.Norton & Company, 1995).

[17] K. Marx, Capital, volume 3 (Penguin, 1981).

[18] M. Hardt and A. Negri, Empire (Harvard University Press, Cambridge,2000).

[19] M. Rice, The Origins of Ancient Egypt (Routledge, 1991).

[20] V. Dimitrov, “Principle of Harmony in Econometric Modelling,” Eco-nomic Thought, 12 (1989) 96–105 (in Bulgarian); English version avail-able at: http://www.uws.edu.au/vip/dimitrov/Harmony.html.


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